Can you guys explain to me

[atomic sagebrush]

I still don't really get this...so the kids don't have to do any test? But then how do you prove they did learned?
Like you say they decide if they want to complete the testing for University or not.What if they don't do any testing? When they grow up and apply for work you have to prove education right? So how is this go?

My oldest son took the GED test to prove that he was educated adequately and then with that, he was able to go on to take the SAT and apply to colleges.

[atomic sagebrush]

Well I don't think our school cause any trauma to my girls. They like to go there. DD1 said she hates that school is over now for the summer. I think life it's difficult and there is always competition in life. I mean what is going to happen when they grow up? They have to go "out" to work with everyone else there is no "unworking" right?

My boys are very competitive, just in other arenas that don't have to do with education so much. Trust me, they learn all the life lessons outside of the classroom!

[atomic sagebrush]

I don't really love the term unschooling either because I think it implies something that isn't really true - like, kids who are unschooled aren't educated or something which really isn't the case.

I think a better term would be "child-driven learning" or "interest-driven learning" - kids learn with more of a focus on pursuing their own interests and less about dry facts on some timeline set down by government bureaucrats - not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think it's kind of a turn off to actual, real-world learning.

For me it's not so much about the grades but that school and the kid culture seems very anti-learning in many ways. I'm not totally sure that it's normal for kids to be with other kids all day long with so little familial adult interaction. For most of human existence we lived in small tribes where we were with our relatives and people who had known us for our entire lives, all day long and children naturally imitated what adults did and wanted to be grown up and were expected to contribute to the good of the tribe and family. It is very unnatural to isolate kids away from their family, with other kids their own age who may be virtual strangers, and have them sit all day long (esp. for boys!!)

Rather than grades, I want them to be more self-driven and motivated, rather than doing something meaningless because a teacher told them to. Yes, there are times in life when we do have to do meaningless things because someone tells us to, but school can take it to a whole new level and I figure they'll have plenty of chances to experience that.

You guys must have had more positive school experiences than I did. My experience in school was kinda soul-crushing and I still struggle with feelings of inadequacy and self-worth. While I know I cannot protect my kids from the bumps and bruises of life, I don't want them to be bullied or even more, to BE a bully.

[DoulaMama]

You guys must have had more positive school experiences than I did. My experience in school was kinda soul-crushing and I still struggle with feelings of inadequacy and self-worth. While I know I cannot protect my kids from the bumps and bruises of life, I don't want them to be bullied or even more, to BE a bully.

I hated school as well. (hugs) I wasn't in any cliche because I thought for myself and would not put up with any bullying etc. It made for some lonely days.

[Dreamofpink]

I don't think this happens in the UK (that I know of), but my understanding of it is that it's home schooling but without actually making the child study particular subjects/curriculum and letting their interests and curiosity lead their learning

Yes it does and is a growing alternative to the school system

[Dreamofpink]

I don't really love the term unschooling either because I think it implies something that isn't really true - like, kids who are unschooled aren't educated or something which really isn't the case.

I think a better term would be "child-driven learning" or "interest-driven learning" - kids learn with more of a focus on pursuing their own interests and less about dry facts on some timeline set down by government bureaucrats - not that there's anything wrong with that, but I think it's kind of a turn off to actual, real-world learning.

For me it's not so much about the grades but that school and the kid culture seems very anti-learning in many ways. I'm not totally sure that it's normal for kids to be with other kids all day long with so little familial adult interaction. For most of human existence we lived in small tribes where we were with our relatives and people who had known us for our entire lives, all day long and children naturally imitated what adults did and wanted to be grown up and were expected to contribute to the good of the tribe and family. It is very unnatural to isolate kids away from their family, with other kids their own age who may be virtual strangers, and have them sit all day long (esp. for boys!!)

Rather than grades, I want them to be more self-driven and motivated, rather than doing something meaningless because a teacher told them to. Yes, there are times in life when we do have to do meaningless things because someone tells us to, but school can take it to a whole new level and I figure they'll have plenty of chances to experience that.

You guys must have had more positive school experiences than I did. My experience in school was kinda soul-crushing and I still struggle with feelings of inadequacy and self-worth. While I know I cannot protect my kids from the bumps and bruises of life, I don't want them to be bullied or even more, to BE a bully.

This is EXACTLY how I feel about home-ed too. I like to call it autonomous learning and we follow a very loose-structure. I can already see a huge chasm between ds1 and his friends who are mainly school educated. It's just a pack-mentality with them all and a lot of nit-picking one-upmanship goes on. DS1 is totally oblivious to this sort of behaviour as the kids at the home-ed groups mainly look after one another and are a very caring bunch, especially the older ones towards the younger ones. I don't want to tar all school children with the same brush as there's good and bad everywhere, but it's just learned behaviour and school culture that I hate as it's so unnecessary. It's getting harder for me regarding relationships with my friends who don't home-ed as they're all living in such a different world to me. I don't envy them the school-run, playground politics etc and love having my boys experience the real world with me by their side. As for the usual 'socialisation' question, my kids are the first to say hello and talk to others whereas getting a word out of my friends' kids can be like getting blood out of a stone! It works for us just now and the thought of putting them into senior school horrifies me as I never want them to have even a little taste of what I had to endure. It's such an emotive issue though and I have to tread very carefully IRL as I am very aware that I am swimming against the tide - and it's a strong one a lot of the time!

[Yuzu]

I'd be really interested in this, but I don't know how I would teach classes like Chemistry and Higher Math (the classes I wasn't so good in). How do homeschoolers deal with classes they have less knowledge in?

[Yuzu]

Oh! I didn't realize this was an old post.

[Dreamofpink]

Oh! I didn't realize this was an old post.

Hey no problem! It was me who resurrected it good question though. I guess we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Looking to start the maths prog math u see in the spring which takes them up to age 16-18ish.

Sent from my LG-E400 using Tapatalk 2

[Wishing4Princess]

This is neat thread! I am also thinking about home-schooling my kids too..at the moment my older son is enrolled in a montessori pre-k. but it's a bit too expensive and we cannot afford privte schools for all our kids.

I'm still trying to figure out what the 'main' difference between charter school and home schooling is? from what i understand a charter is that the student reports to a facility to pickup the curriculum packet then works at home on his own pace, sort of like home schooling . is this correct?